This is because the path that electrical impulses use to cause the heart to beat is delayed, blocked, or otherwise disturbed. An injury or damage to the heart muscle or valves can cause a heart block.
Contrary to coronary heart disease, which develops when plaque, a waxy material, accumulates in the coronary arteries, heart block is a separate condition. It may result in heart attacks, also known as myocardial infarctions, or chest pain known as angina (MI). Additionally, certain forms of attacks could stop the heart.
Here are some facts about heart block.
Around 60 to 100 times per minute, a healthy human heart beats while at rest. When the heart muscles contract, blood is pushed around the body in a heartbeat.
The heart’s ventricles, or lower chambers, receive electrical impulses from the atria, or top chambers, and use those signals to control each contraction of the heart muscle.
If the electrical impulses are delayed or move more slowly than usual, it results in a partial heart block.
When all electrical signals are lost, there is a total heart block. The heart can beat at a pace of as little as 40 beats per minute.
Heart block can result from alterations to impulses even if they last a very brief time.
It is occasionally challenging for the heart due to heart block to adequately pump blood through the cardiovascular system, which prevents the brain and other muscles and organs from receiving enough oxygen to function properly.
Heart Block Types
Congenital heart blockages are those that can exist from birth, however, postnatal heart blocks are more common. In general, as people get older and heart disease becomes more common, the risk of developing an acquired heart block rises. In light of this, there are three categories into which heart blocks can be divided:
First-degree heart block causes only slight cardiac irregularities, such as skipped beats. Treatment might not be needed depending on how severe the symptoms are.
Dropped or missed beats result from second-degree heart block when the atrial pulse cannot reach the ventricles. The patient might become faint in this situation and might require a pacemaker.
When electrical signals cannot cross the upper and lower heart chambers, the condition known as third-degree or total heart block results. Heart disease patients frequently experience this. When there is a significant risk of having a heart attack, a pacemaker becomes necessary.
The signs of a heart block
A shift in the heartbeat’s pattern or speed is known as an abnormal cardiac rhythm. It may beat erratically, too quickly, or both (bradycardias and tachycardias). Certain irregular cardiac rhythms—known as atrial or ventricular—occur in one of the atriums, while others do so in the ventricles. The following signs of a heart block may manifest in a person:
Dizziness or lightheadedness
Palpitations (skipping, fluttering, or thumping in the chest) (skipping, fluttering or pounding in the chest)
Fatigue
chest tightness or discomfort
breathing difficulty
fading spells
activity is challenging because not enough blood is being pushed through the body.
